The arrival of asylum-seekers in the midlands has not been accompanied by any great difficulty, according to a Midlands Health Board spokesman.
Already a total of 80 people from 10 countries have found accommodation in the midlands and are settling in well. A new hostel in Longford town has provided accommodation for over 30 people and locals say there have been no problems on either side.
There has also been a fairly seamless settling of around 50 people in Birr, which was the first part of the midlands to see the arrival of asylum-seekers.
However, a lack of information and the sudden announcement of some 400 asylum-seekers for Athlone late this month or early in June have caused disquiet in the area.
Early last month, the Department of Justice told the local authority that 100 mobile homes were to be placed on a site on the outskirts of the town to accommodate asylum-seekers.
The location, beside a large Travellers' site to the west of the town just off the Athlone bypass, caused anger in a community which had been seeking additional accommodation and had been refused.
The Harmony Community Development Programme Organisation, speaking for the Travellers, said that it was not opposed to welcoming asylum-seekers but wanted fewer mobile homes and more services.
Ms Liz Fletcher said the lack of information about what was going to happen in the town had been the main problem for people working in the area.
Ms Fletcher, who works in the Harmony organisation, called on the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs to provide additional personnel trained to aid the asylum-seekers.
Cllr Kieran Molloy said the real problem with the asylum settlement issue was not a lack of goodwill but a lack of information coming from Dublin.
"This is not the proper way to do things. We should have been informed every step along the way and we were not," he said.
However, he said, a liaison group has been set up to help ease the disquiet and keep local people informed about what was going on. He said he was concerned at the use of mobile homes to house asylum-seekers because in his view, this was not a proper type of housing for these people.
Westmeath County Council appointed the former Labour Party senator, Mr Pat Gallagher, to liase with voluntary bodies who are interested in working with the asylum-seekers.
"There has been a very good response from the bodies involved and there will be a meeting in Athlone later in the week when hopefully more information about what is happening will be available," he said.
Meanwhile, development of the site for the mobile homes is proceeding but so far, no mobiles have been placed on it.